- If your play involves Santa Claus, dress the kids up as the man in red himself along with Mrs. Claus, the elves and some reindeer. For Santa, take a red sweat suit and add some embellishments with scissors, fur, and a needle and thread. Cut down the front of the sweatshirt to make it resemble a jacket. Adorn the front edges, collar and bottom hem with fake white fur from a fabric store. Do the same for the wrist cuffs and the waist of the pants. Add a white T-shirt underneath and a pair of black boots for the shoes. Find a Santa hat at a store, put on a fake beard, and your little Santa is ready to go.
For Mrs. Claus, make a red jacket like Santa's and put it over a long red or black skirt with some sequin trimming and black boots. Give her white hair and small glasses to wear.
Make the elves tunics from red or green pillow cases, tied with a simple belt made from a strip of red or green felt. Add a felt hat and slippers, and sew bells onto each of these. Wear tights and a long-sleeved shirt under the tunic to keep warm and stay covered.
Reindeer can wear brown sweat suits with painted red noses and antler headbands. Purchase the headbands in a store or make your own by wrapping pipe cleaners around a regular child's headband. - If your Christmas play involves telling the story of Jesus's birth, make simple costumes for your main characters. Put Mary and Joseph in tunics made from pillow cases; cut holes in the top and sides for their arms and heads. If these aren't long enough to cover their legs, put leggings underneath or make your tunics from fabric sewn like a pillow case instead. Tie a rope around the waist for a belt, and give Mary a scarf to drape over her head. Paint a beard onto Joseph's face using costume or stage makeup.
For the shepherds, start with the same tunic and then add walking sticks to carry and head dresses; make these by tying pillow cases to their heads with rope or string. For the three kings, use pillow case tunics in brighter colors and add crowns to their heads.